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I'm a Canadian citizen currently studying abroad in the United Kingdom. My laptop recently broke and I need to buy a new one. The specific model I want does not ship to the UK. It is however, easy to have it shipped to my parents in Canada. They'll be traveling to Ireland in a few weeks where I'll be meeting them for a short vacation. After that, I'll be traveling back to the UK for a few months to complete my studies. I want to ship the laptop to my parents and pick it up off them when we meet in Ireland.

Would my parents be required to pay duties on the laptop upon arriving in Ireland? If so, roughly how much would they be required to pay? The laptop costs ~$2000 CAD.

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  • Where is the laptop being shipped from?
    – Itai
    Mar 23, 2019 at 17:18
  • I believe it's being shipped from the United States to Canada. It's possibly coming from within Canada though (the manufacturer doesn't specify).
    – linuxuser
    Mar 23, 2019 at 17:19
  • If duties are due at any of the border crossings (US to Canada, Canada to Ireland, Ireland to the UK) they would normally be paid by the person carrying the laptop.
    – Patricia Shanahan
    Mar 23, 2019 at 17:27
  • markup is things like paragraphs, bulleted lists, bold, links, ….
    – Kate Gregory
    Mar 23, 2019 at 20:43
  • I suppose you are currently a resident of the United Kingdom? Then the only real answer, legally, it that the laptop should be declared and import taxes and duties (mostly VAT in this case I guess) should be paid.
    – jcaron
    Mar 24, 2019 at 11:54

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The fully legal way is your parents getting an ATA Carnet. Read the EU page on temporary admission of goods. As a Canadian, getting one now is not hard, you can get one online -- but this is massive overkill, your parents would need to get documents signed by Canadian and Irish customs both, the Chamber page has a description of the exact process. A few months is right -- six months is the limit on a carnet.

Instead, every day tourists enter with thousands of euros worth of electronics and noone cares. Just toss the laptop packaging and bring it as everyone else brings a laptop.

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  • There’s also a cost for the ATA carnet. And there are often limits on the reasons one can use an ATA carnet for, not sure it would really apply here.
    – jcaron
    Mar 24, 2019 at 11:54
  • Does it matter that the OP does not intend to permanently export the laptop but temporarily bring it to the UK and then take it back to Canada?
    – mdewey
    Mar 24, 2019 at 17:24
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    Absolutely! It makes all the difference in the world.
    – user4188
    Mar 24, 2019 at 18:24
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There are "Other Goods" duty free allowances in both the UK and Republic of Ireland (£390 UK or £312 Ireland) when arriving from outside the EU. However if an item cost more than that you have to pay duty on the full overseas purchase price. You cannot 'pool' a family's or couples Other Goods allowances. In addition you will have to pay Value Added Tax (VAT) on the purchase price plus Duty - referred to as the "Duty Paid value". Goods being imported should be declared at the first EU point of arrival.According to Ireland Customs website, import duty for non-commercial imports is 2.5% on goods up to 700 Euro (approx Can$ 1065)

Importing vehicles, duty-free allowances, reliefs and online shopping is the official page.

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